CAPTAIN Joe Leach says opening batsman Hamish Rutherford will help to give Worcestershire the consistency they are looking for in red-ball cricket when he returns to Blackfinch New Road in 2020.

Rutherford had two short stints with the County in 2019 and topped their batting averages in the Specsavers County Championship as well as making an impact in the Royal London One-Day Cup with two centuries.

Now the New Zealander, who plays for Otago during the domestic season back home, is available for the whole of next summer in all formats of the game.

Leach said: “He had a really good impact on the dressing room – as all of these overseas (signings) tend to do to be honest.

“To have that combative left-hander in that red-ball format will stand us in good stead.

“Everytime he played, the tempo he played at, the way he looked out in the middle was a good sign for us.

“He’s a high quality performer and with an overseas batsman it’s nice to have them for the whole season. His record in white-ball cricket as well speaks for itself.”

Leach added: “We all know batters will go in and out of form over the course of a six-month period (season) but when you have them for that amount of time you hope you get the peaks as well as the troughs.

“Sometimes if you have guys for short stints and they are out of form, you can cop the raw end of the deal.

“Obviously that works the other way as well but it’s nice to have someone in Hamish who is going to give us consistency.

“That’s what we are after in red-ball cricket so to have someone here for the whole time will give us that.”

PAT'S PRIDE IN ENGLAND TOUR DEBUT

Pat Brown can look back with pride and satisfaction on his performances in England’s T20I Series against New Zealand.

The Worcestershire ace was part of a young squad chosen to face the Black Caps and played in the two warm-up games as well as the first four matches of the T20I Series.

The 21-year-old was entrusted by skipper Eoin Morgan with the final over of the New Zealand innings in Christchurch and went for only eight runs.

In contrast, he was given two overs in the initial powerplay in Nelson and conceded just nine runs.

Brown was on the end of some powerful hitting at times but showed his character in bouncing back with a tight over when next called upon to bowl.

He twice dismissed the vastly experienced New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor.

Brown, who did not play in the final game, ended with figures of 13-0-128-3 and an economy rate of 9.84. He will head straight to Abu Dhabi for more experience against some of the world’s best white ball exponents in the T10 League from November 15 to 24 before an eight-game stint in the Big Bash with the Melbourne Stars.